Nearing 91, Cape Cod Chamber plans for the future

Friday

Dec 9, 2011 at 2:00 AM

Economic and community development, the convention and visitors bureau, public policy and member services are the four pillars of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce’s draft strategic plan as it prepares for the last decade of its first century.

Edward F. Maroney

Draft strategic plan combines economic and community development

Economic and community development, the convention and visitors bureau, public policy and member services are the four pillars of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce’s draft strategic plan as it prepares for the last decade of its first century.

Board chair Dorothy Savarese and CEO Wendy Northcross gave the membership its closest look yet at a draft strategic plan in the making for months at a Dec. 7 meeting at the Cape Codder Resort in Hyannis. Both reviewed a list of challenges facing the region that ranged from wastewater infrastructure, to retaining and attracting younger people, to housing and public safety.

“We can’t wait for the government to solve all the problems,” Savarese said in calling for regional solutions that will see the business community doing its part not only to promote but also to preserve the Cape’s assets.

Declaring that there are “destinations around the globe that would kill to be Cape Cod,” Northcross said it’s essential to “protect our brand with exceptional services and products.”

Savarese said a near-term effort involves regular meetings with and surveys of the Cape’s large employers, with a particular eye to their return on investment. The Chamber will create and publish a Cape GDP, a Gross Domestic Product collection of indicators of the economy’s health.

The Chamber wants members to be ready to take advantage of the new OpenCape fiber-optic network, set for service in 2013, that she said will “overcome the constraints of our geography” by allowing faster transmission of data on and off the Cape.

Small employers, such as the region’s entrepreneurs, won’t be overlooked, Savarese promised.

Tourism remains “the great economic driver in our region,” according to Savarese, and so the Chamber will look closely at all its marketing materials and the various platforms on which the world encounters them – print, the Internet, etc. – to improve the Cape’s “catch rate.”

Northcross said the Chamber will continue to expand the shoulder seasons and look for “weather-proof attractions,” such as a performance and convention center.

Survey data show a growing interest in luxury accommodations, Savarese said, and the Chamber “will support zoning changes that support luxury hotel and other waterfront amenities.”

In the public policy arena, both speakers promised that the Chamber would coordinate efforts on local issues with its colleague chambers across the Cape. As for member services, more cooperative marketing lies ahead, along with instruction on using social media.

Half of the Chamber’s 1,345 members are in travel and tourism, according to Northcross. Both speakers would like to see greater participation from sectors such as the housing industry.

The Chamber leaders said the group would stay focused on dealing with water issues, whether wastewater, drinking water, or the waters that surround us. Speaking from the floor, other members asked for help with home insurance and employer health insurance requirements, something that Cape Air founder Dan Wolf, now the state senator from the Cape & Islands, said are important.

Savarese closed the meeting by reminding members that, by employing Cape Codders, “you do the work of making this a viable community.”